Fiber Arts

Fiber Arts

This workshop is designed for beginning to advanced work in fiber arts. Our primary focus is weaving on four and eight harness floor looms with natural fiber yarns including cotton, tencel, rayon, linen and wool.

Beginning weavers learn to design textiles, wind warps, dress looms, and weave in a variety of patterns and with a variety of materials. If you are an intermediate or advanced weaver, you will have the opportunity to create complex textiles and large pieces using our 50 and 54 inch 8 harness looms. Quilting, sewing, needlework, knitting, crocheting, spinning, painting warps, designing knit wear, and dyeing are also options during the week. Participants may choose to focus in one area or explore a variety of techniques.

Melissa moved to southern Vermont from Istanbul in 1973 and graduated from The Putney School in 1977. She attended the University of Vermont, Goddard College and apprenticed to Trudy Walker, a production weaver, before beginning her career as a weaver and knitwear designer. She teaches workshops on weaving, knitting, and natural and synthetic dyeing. Melissa is a designer, dyer, and color consultant for The Green Mountain Spinnery, and creates custom textiles on commission. During the summer of 2013, she and a group from Putney School brought looms and yarn to Kigali, Rwanda. They set up a weaving studio and taught 12 disadvantaged Rwandans to weave. The Rwandan weavers have now formed a co-operative and are producing scarves for sale to support themselves and their families.